Cheating claim after 100% pass 11-plus test??

[ed]

Hi, he did the 4 hours at school - half hour sessions before school. I bought some books from whsmiths, just to speed up his technique reading the questions. But we ran out of time to get them done ! Should have started earlier - I think we looked at them just before summer hols - so you will have plenty of time! They were the Susan Daughtrey books. There are a few of them, but I don't think we did them all. Different books tackle different types of questions. I let him work through them on his own. There were some sections he got a bit stuck with, but most were ok. It just showed me any bits he struggled with, so we could have another look.

[Guest]

Thanks Ed, thats very helpful, I'm glad it's not too late to get started.

[jacquie]

For your information the County Council has already been sent a typescript copy of one of their "live" Moray House test papers. Mark Gore, Director of Education in Warwickshire, has admitted that this is so (Stratford Herald 30/11/06) and yet he still chooses to gloss over this fact when he is questioned about the security of the test.

I have a copy of the 2006 test results. The performance of the children that year is not just excellent it's astounding! The average pass mark was 96.1% - there must be something in the water.

Forgive me for repeating my post. It seems more relevant to this thread.

I have just heard of cheating allegations in Rugby. I have been a tutor since 1990. To explain my position:
Some of my work involves preparing children for 11 plus.
I would like to make clear here, because tutors have a bad name, and now are going to have an even worse on, it seems, I always follow up children's progress who pass.
I have no wish to make children's lives a misery, by getting them into a school inappropriate to their needs. I always enrich maths and literacy as a priority and do not 'cram'. This means the children I teach, who pass the exam, are always well prepared in study skills and have excellent academic levels.
I also work on wider educational elements such as philosophy, discussion, self confidence, concentration and creative work. Elements which school teachers are unable to offer in their pressured environment and large classes.


I have heard that papers have been circulating among some tutors- I assume these are tutors who have access to schools ( I do not) otherwise, how would they get hold of the copies?

Over the last 10 years I have kept records of my results. This is the first year that pupils have failed, who I have predicted to pass. I found this particularly true of the boys. They have regularly had a lower pass rate, according to levels observed in my classes, than the girls. Boys who regularly got above 85%, in my practice papers, passed, but those who got less than that, regulary, say 75% to 85% failed. The latter would normally have passed. In fact, one or two each year getting 60% in my classes have also passed.


I was puzzled, and have been bewildered by this change. I pondered and thought maybe, this might be due to an amazingly bright wave of children coming into the pool. Or was this a new trend? Were the resuiltsnow going to get higher each year?

Talking to a parent of a little girl last night, who is very bright, and due to take the exam in September, I warned of how high the standard was this year. It was she who told me about the cheating rumours now circulating. Is it true that all the Rugby children, from this year. will now be taking the test in a hall? Are the old papers being abandoned?

I must say, I feel really disgusted by tutors or teachers letting down pupils by cheating. This is an awful example. It's already unfair enough, that so many 'bright' children 'fail'.

I feel absolutely bewildered by this development. If this is true, surely the exam must be resat by everyone. What on earth is going to be done?

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[KenR]

Hi Jacquie,

I think the main problem appears to be the fact the Warwickshire LEA may have been using commercially published 11+ papers that are freely available to any School or LEA.

I'm not able to confirm this but I think the following URL link shows where and how the papers can be obtained:-

http://www.hoddertests.co.uk/tfsearch/k ... mhtnew.htm

The quote from the Hodder/Moray site is interesting:-

Moray House Tests are

available to most schools,

but may be subject to

restriction in areas where

they form part of a local

assessment programme or

selection procedure. These

tests must be ordered in

writing on school/LEA

headed paper, and will only

be supplied direct to a

school or LEA address. The

publishers reserve the right

to decline to supply without

stating a reason.

Group/whole class

45 minutes per test

MHT Evaluation Pack

£35.00

The MHT Evaluation Pack

comprises one copy each of

MHTs 86–89, Manual and sample

Answer Key/Conversion Table.

I have to caveat the above and state that I do not know for certain whether Warwickshire LEA have been using the above test, but if true then this set the alarm bells ringing with me as regards the security/integrity of the exam. It appears any individual who can get hold of any LEA or School headed note paper can get copies of the tests!

[jacquie]

Thanks Ken. I wonder if the Warks Authority will now make other arrangements- surely they won't continue using these tests if that is what has occurred?

[Guest]

Jacquie, if you were to read some of the other Warwickshire threads you will find some of the information you are after and you will know that they are going to change the examining board this year!

[jacquie]

Hello Guest. ( I'm new to this forum, don't wish to be rude, but there seem to be a lot of 'Guests'- I have no idea to which 'guest' I am speaking- a username would help)
Yes I have now read some of the other threads. Maybe there is other information which could be added, since this is a current issue, very much alive and kicking, and possibly about to burst sky high.
Rumours are now rife amongst parents, and many are, to put it mildly, angry. My aim was to give reliable up to date information, quickly, to those concerned. But I can see there's quite a lot of reading for me to do yet and research too.
Thankyou Ken for that direct and helpful response. I have looked at the web site and am quite astonished by what has been allowed to happen.

Children appear to have been seriously let down. Still, it's complicated and a little obscure (deliberately perhaps) and will take time for me to get through.

My main concern at the moment is this year's children. So you're confirming it will be a different system this year. Why aren't parents who call Warwicks Education Authority being told this, if that is indeed the case?
One parent has told me, the headmaster of her child's school intimated the cheating allegation was true and that all the children are going to be taking the exam in out of school locations now. Many children who do not attend school in Rugby already go to the Benn Hall to do their exam. Will this be the case, I wonder.

[Nunu]

Why do some kids in Warwickshire wrote the exam on a Sunday when the other kids Wrote on a Saturday ?

[Sally-Anne]

I have locked this thread, which has bizarrely been resurrected from almost a decade ago!